Three dimensional image display apparatus

Abstract

A 3-D image display including an image forming unit for forming an image by modulating light according to image information is provided. The 3-D image display includes a display device with a plurality of first regions for forming a left eye image and a plurality of second regions for forming a right eye image in a 3-D image mode. The 3-D image display also includes a viewpoint controller with first and second reflection mirror devices for reflecting light of a left eye image and light of a right eye image input from the image forming unit to first and second viewpoints when displaying a 3-D image. The locations of the first and second viewpoints may be changed by controlling an angle of reflection surfaces of the first and second reflection mirror devices.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONSThis application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0059699, filed on Jun. 23, 2010, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference for all purposes.BACKGROUND1. FieldThe following description relates to a three dimensional (3-D) image display apparatus, and more particularly, to a 3-D image display apparatus with an expanded viewing zone.2. Description of the Related ArtThree dimensional (3-D) image display apparatuses are widely used in a variety of fields such as medical imaging, games, advertisements, education, and military applications. For displaying a 3-D image, methods such as a holography method or a stereoscopy method have been studied. Although the holography method is an exceptional 3-D image display method, the holography method generally requires a coherent light source and presents difficulties in recording and reproducing a large o...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

Provided is a 3-D image display apparatus with an expanded viewing zone, while substantially maintaining resolution when 3-D images are realized in an autostereoscopic manner.

Problems solved by technology

Although the holography method is an exceptional 3-D image display method, the holography method generally requires a coherent light source and presents difficulties in recording and reproducing a large object located at a far distance.

The autostereoscopy method is generally preferred to the glasses type method, which is inconvenient simply because glasses are required.

Also, since a viewing zone is limited according to a viewpoint, it may be inconvenient for a viewer to fix their position to the viewpoint when viewing a 3-D image.

For example, when an image with only two viewpoints is provided, a range for a viewer to observe the 3-D image is very limited.

If the viewer moves his or her head, left and right images may be reversed; thus, the viewer may be inconvenienced when watching a 3-D image.

Images